Thursday 11 April 2019
Rebecca Huntley
What do Australians want most from their next government? Rebecca Huntley listens to the people and hears a call for change.
Too often we focus on the angry, reactionary minority. But, Huntley explains, there is also a large progressive centre.
For some time, a clear majority have been saying they want action – on climate and energy, on housing and inequality, on corporate donations and the corruption of democracy.
Would a Shorten Labor government rise to this challenge? What can be learnt from the failures of past governments? Was marriage equality just the beginning? In Australia Fair, Rebecca Huntley reveals the state of the nation and makes the case for democratic renewal – should the next government heed the call.
“Often the claim is made that our politics and politicians are poll-driven. This is, on the whole, bunkum. If polls were influential, we would have invested much more in renewable energy, maintained and even increased funding to the ABC, and made child care cheaper. We may already have made changes to negative gearing and moved towards adopting elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We would have taken up the first iteration of the Gonski education reforms. These are some of the issues where a democratic majority comes together, a basic agreement crossing party lines.” —Rebecca Huntley, Australia Fair
About the speaker
Dr Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia’s foremost researchers on social and consumer trends. She has a background in publishing, academia and politics. She is a sought after commentator on social trends on radio, in print and on television.
Rebecca holds degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in Gender Studies.
For nearly 9 years Rebecca was the Director of The Mind & Mood Report, Australia’s longest running social trends report.
She is currently the Principal Consultant at Vox Populi Research
Rebecca is the author of numerous books including the recent Still Lucky: why you should feel optimistic about Australia and its people (Penguin 2017). She was a feature writer for Australian Vogue, a columnist for BRW and the presenter of RN Drive on a Friday. She writes and podcasts for The Guardian Australia. She is on the Artistic Advisory Board of the Bell Shakespeare Company, an adjunct senior lecturer at the School of Social Sciences at The University of New South Wales and a board member of The Whitlam Institute.
Balmain Institute Inc. 